THE UNCONVENTIONAL CHILD
From CITYLIGHTS to LOVE GAMES, Patralekhaa talks about her journey to Viraj Sawant.
CITYLIGHTS was well received by the audience, how did you land up doing a serious film as your first film? I never chose CITYLIGHTS, the film chose me. I am not from the industry. I don’t have a distant relative who is from this industry. For me, it was the best opportunity and I grabbed it. I dint think much over it. I wanted to be a part of a film where I would get to act. That was my outlook. I am absolutely carefree when I am acting. I feel like I am meditating. I have no worries going through my head when am facing the camera. I am totally into my role.
What sort of reviews did you get for LOVE GAMES? I am getting a bit of this and that from all the sides. The audiences are loving me. Some sections of people have absolutely disowned me. Its like after CITYLIGHTS, the lights have gone off. I gave the film my best. I am very happy I did this film because doing it changed me as a person.
Actresses don’t opt for erotic thrillers in the beginning of their career. Honestly, after CITYLIGHTS I dint get many offers. So when I was offered LOVE GAMES, I had to take it up. I kept waiting for the right offers. Six months after CITY LIGHTS, I had rejected a few offers and I realised that I dint have any work to do. So I went to Bhatt sahab and we share a very special bond since the CITY LIGHT days. I told him that I don’t have a film. He told me that Vikram(Bhatt) is making a film and I should meet him. Vikram sir gave me the narration and I found Ramona’s character to be very powerful. As an actor I never thought if I could pull it off or not, all I knew was that I had to do this. I did not think about the genre it would be categorised into. I thought from an actor’s perspective.
When most contemporary actresses opt for a glamorous start to their career, you chose a film that showed you in a deglamorous role of village girl. Do you regret not getting a grander start to your career? I don’t think I couldn’t have got a better or a bigger start. CITYLIGHTS positioned me as an actor. Which is otherwise difficult in your first film. You are always trying to perfect so many other things in your first film that acting is left aside at times. I had Hansal sir as my director and he is fabulous. I got so much to learn from him. My co-actor in the film, Rajkummar Rao is an outstanding actor and he is one of the best actors we have in the industry. Then I had Bhatt sahab. I had these three men who are so amazing in their journey or in the way they are. It was just too overwhelming for me to judge the platform I had got.
For someone who is a complete outsider to the industry, do
you feel the need to have a godfather? Yes! I think it’s important. All this while I would deny the need for a godfather in this industry but when you have a godfather, they know the positive or adverse effects of every step you take in the industry. When you are a newcomer, you are basically testing everything here... what would work and what wouldn’t. The test can go right or wrong. The moment it goes wrong, everybody forgets all the positive that’s happened or what you have done. From that perspective, it’s important to have somebody.
We heard that you had to convince your father to pursue acting as a career. My father wanted me to be CA. Once I finished my 12, I came down to Mumbai to register myself for my CA exam. I couldn’t get myself to be writing those exams. MY dad was initially upset with me and a little worried thinking, how would I do it in Bollywood. When you come from a matriarchal society, a girl is always taught to earn a living for herself. Not going the conventional line of getting married at an early age and then kids and then a home-maker. I was taught to be independent and earn my living. He got a little bit jittery but after CITYLIGHTS he is a little comfortable.
Don’t you fear being stereotyped as an unconventional actor? I want to be the unconventional actor. The first interview I gave in my life, I said that I have always been an unconventional child. I really think I am the unconventional child since my childhood. I was in a boarding school. I have always been the weird one doing the weird things. I was always the outstanding student. I was always the most unconventional kid.